IN ALL FAIRNESS - Delayed lift-off

Isn’t it amazing what a change in the weather can do!

As I mentioned in this column last week, the first two rounds of the inter-county championships were all doom and gloom with the poor fare on offer, particularly the ones that were shown on television.

All that changed last weekend with some cracking action, helped massively by the much appreciated arrival of spring with the bright sunshine on both Saturday and Sunday making it feel like championship in the height of summer. Indeed, it was such to an extent that The Sunday Game ditched a planned segment on the status of the split season the impact of it on attendances and the quality of the games.

However, what last weekend proved is that the weather is crucial in making the championship as special as it is. This would lead towards those of the argument that the championship starts too early and needs to be delayed and played later into the summer. However, in the current climate, you are as likely to get good weather in April as you will get a downpour on All-Ireland finals days on the third and fourth Sunday’s in July so tweaking the schedule won’t make that much of a difference.

However, as good as the supporters had it last weekend, it looks like the Tipperary supporters planning on heading to the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday will need their woolly hats and winter coats as the temperatures are set to plummet with a wind-chill factor predicted of around four or five degrees.

Optimism within the county of getting off to a winning start in the Munster Championship is low, a combination of taking on a dominant Limerick side and their recent good record over Tipp, plus our average league form. However, in tipping Limerick to beat Clare and Waterford to get the better of Cork last weekend, I went with the long held belief that league form carries little weight when it comes to the championship.

So far in this championship, in both hurling and football, we have had so many results where league form was turned on its head, added to by Dublin’s late comeback against Wexford, plus in football where Wicklow, Waterford and Cavan have won games against the form, while Sligo were very unfortunate to be caught in injury time by Galway on Saturday.

Donegal’s win over Derry isn’t as much of a shock as on any given day in Ulster, the margins are so fine between many of the counties, and with Jim McGuinness back on the sideline, you knew he’d have a plan up his sleeve, particularly by using Derry’s sweeper-keeper against them. In the end, it was the calamitous goals that were the difference so Derry don’t need to lose too much sleep from this defeat and the fact that they don’t have to play two dog-eat-dog semi-finals and final in Ulster before the round-robin Sam Maguire Cup starts, this mini-break could well be a blessing in disguise.

With the upsets we have seen in the championships so far, there is no reason why Tipperary cannot be the latest to strike one against the head, even against this Limerick team. Last Sunday’s much built-up clash between Clare and Limerick, while competitive and close on the scoreboard, wasn’t a classic by any means. There were poor passages of play and easy missed chances on both sides, which can be expected in a first round game as teams shake off a little rust, particularly playing in conditions alien to them from the cold and wet of the league.

That is one area where you would be concerned for Tipp that they are coming in cold, literally, against a Limerick side that have a match under their belt. Plus, there is the fact that Limerick will know their performance wasn’t up to scratch last weekend and will feel in some ways like it was a loss and will feel they have something to prove. In that respect, it will be interesting to see if John Kiely decides to give the likes of Tom Morrissey, Seamus Flanagan, and William O’Donoghue, all called ashore early, will be given a second chance, or will they be left to stew and Donnacha O Dalaigh, Conor Boylan, Adam English, who impressed off the bench, rewarded for their part in turning that game around.

Tipperary can’t be bothered about any of that. They need to be focusing on themselves and bringing a performance, playing to their own strengths. We have seen it at underage level already that Tipp playing front foot hurling is their best chance of winning matches and suits our players.

What will also help is as many Tipp supporters as possible making their way to Limerick to drown out the home support.